title: Malaria and other vector-borne infection surveillance in the U.S. Department of Defense Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center-Global Emerging Infections Surveillance program: review of 2009 accomplishments.
abstract: Vector-borne infections (VBI) are defined as infectious diseases transmitted by the bite or mechanical transfer of arthropod vectors. They constitute a significant proportion of the global infectious disease burden. United States (U.S.) Department of Defense (DoD) personnel are especially vulnerable to VBIs due to occupational contact with arthropod vectors, immunological naiveté to previously unencountered pathogens, and limited diagnostic and treatment options available in the austere and unstable environments sometimes associated with military operations. In addition to the risk uniquely encountered by military populations, other factors have driven the worldwide emergence of VBIs. Unprecedented levels of global travel, tourism and trade, and blurred lines of demarcation between zoonotic VBI reservoirs and human populations increase vector exposure. Urban growth in previously undeveloped regions and perturbations in global weather patterns also contribute to the rise of VBIs. The Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center-Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System (AFHSC-GEIS) and its partners at DoD overseas laboratories form a network to better characterize the nature, emergence and growth of VBIs globally. In 2009 the network tested 19,730 specimens from 25 sites for Plasmodium species and malaria drug resistance phenotypes and nearly another 10,000 samples to determine the etiologies of non-Plasmodium species VBIs from regions spanning from Oceania to Africa, South America, and northeast, south and Southeast Asia. This review describes recent VBI-related epidemiological studies conducted by AFHSC-GEIS partner laboratories within the OCONUS DoD laboratory network emphasizing their impact on human populations.
authors.affiliation: Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center, 2900 Linden Lane, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA. mark.m.fukuda@us.army.mil
authors.forename: Mark M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Fukuda
authors.forename: Terry A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.forename: Tadeusz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kochel
authors.forename: Talia M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Quandelacy
authors.forename: Bryan L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Villinski
authors.forename: Delia
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bethell
authors.forename: Stuart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tyner
authors.forename: Youry
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Se
authors.forename: Chanthap
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lon
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Saunders
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wagar
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kasper
authors.forename: Jose L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Sanchez
authors.forename: Clara J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Witt
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Norman
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Waters
authors.forename: Sanjaya K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Shrestha
authors.forename: Julie A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Pavlin
authors.forename: Andres G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Lescano
authors.forename: Paul C F
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Graf
authors.forename: Jason H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.forename: Salomon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Durand
authors.forename: William O
authors.initials: WO
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Blazes
authors.forename: Kevin L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Russell
authors.forename: Hoseah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Akala
authors.forename: Joel C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Gaydos
authors.forename: Robert F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: DeFraites
authors.forename: Panita
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gosi
authors.forename: Ans
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Timmermans
authors.forename: Chad
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yasuda
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brice
authors.forename: Fred
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Eyase
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kronmann
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sebeny
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gibbons
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jarman
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Waitumbi
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schnabel
authors.forename: Allen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Richards
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shanks
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001179:Arthropod Vectors; D021821:Communicable Diseases, Emerging / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D004351:Drug Resistance; D014943:Global Health; D006801:Humans; D008288:Malaria / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008887:Military Medicine; D018571:Sentinel Surveillance; D014481:United States; D015047:Zoonoses